Students’ perspectives of early assessment tasks in their first-year at university

Assessment plays an important role in first-year students’ transition to university, influencing how they learn. Poorly designed assessment can be demotivating and may even cause students to withdraw from university. An early low-stakes assessment task is recommended in first year, to provide information to students and staff on student progress, provide students with a positive experience and help them prepare for future assessments. This paper reports on first-year students’ experiences of two different early assessment tasks for two disciplines, one using an online quiz and the other a ‘research challenge’ that served as a precursor to writing an essay. The paper also presents lecturers’ reflections on what they learned, what they would change and the implications for others planning early assessment tasks for first years. Finally, ideas for future research are provided.     

Students’ assessment preferences, perceptions of assessment and their relationships to study results

The purposes of this study are to gain more insight into students’ actual preferences and perceptions of assessment, into the effects of these on their performances when different assessment formats are used, and into the different cognitive process levels assessed. Data were obtained from two sources. The first was the scores on the assessment of learning outcomes, consisting of open ended and multiple choice questions measuring the students’ abilities to recall information, to understand concepts and principles, and to apply knowledge in new situations. The second was the adapted Assessment Preferences Inventory (API) which measured students’ preferences as a pre-test and perceptions as a post-test. Results show that, when participating in a New Learning Environment (NLE), students prefer traditional written assessment and questions which are as closed as possible, assessing a mix of cognitive processes. Some relationships, but not all the expected ones, were found between students’ preferences and their assessment scores. No relationships were found between students’ perceptions of assessment and their assessment scores. Additionally, only forty percent of the students had perceptions of the levels of the cognitive processes assessed that matched those measured by the assessments. Several explanations are discussed.     

Students’ conceptions about a fair assessment of their learning

The objective of this study is to know the conceptions of primary and secondary school students about what constitutes a fair assessment. To achieve this aim, a phenomenographic study was carried out with 32 students. In a broad sense, the results showed that there were two types of conceptions. On one hand, a conception of fair assessment related to equality, transparency, objectivity, and evaluation of class content; that is, an egalitarian conception of fair assessment. On the other hand, a conception associated with ideas such as adaptation, diversification of tests, and qualitative assessment, even taking into account students' effort and attitudes, which define a conception of fair assessment linked to equity. These conceptions are associated with the concepts of legal justice and social justice, respectively and they contrast with the nature of external evaluations currently carried out.     

Students’ conceptions of assessment: Links to outcomes

Students conceive of assessment in at least four major ways (i.e., assessment makes students accountable; assessment is irrelevant because it is bad or unfair; assessment improves the quality of learning; and assessment is enjoyable). A study in New Zealand of 3469 secondary school students’ conceptions of assessment used a self‐report inventory and scores from a standardised curriculum‐based assessment of reading comprehension. Four inter‐correlated conceptions based on 11 items were found with good psychometric properties. A path‐model linking the four correlated conceptions with student achievement in reading, while taking into account student ethnicity, student sex, and student year, had good psychometric properties. The conception that assessment makes students accountable loaded positively on achievement while the three other conceptions (i.e., assessment makes schools accountable, assessment is enjoyable, and assessment is ignored) had negative loadings on achievement. These findings are consistent with self‐regulation and formative assessment theories, such that students who conceive of assessment as a means of taking responsibility for their learning (i.e., assessment makes me accountable) will demonstrate increased educational outcomes.     

How teachers’ autobiographies influence their responses to children's behaviors

Abstract

Psychoanalytic theory postulates that an individual’s for gotten past can shape his or her behavior in the present. In psychotherapy, clients relive past conflicts and direct them toward their therapists in the present. This phenomenon, known as transference, is not limited to treatment considerations, but influences all interpersonal interactions. However, the professional literature has given minimal consideration to the importance of transference for understanding classroom dynamics. This and a companion article focus upon how transference shapes relationships between teachers and students by integrating narrative case studies with a literature review. However, the ideas and examples are thought to be relevant for all mental health and educational workers with children. The previous article provided an overview of transference concepts as they emerge in the context of clinical psychoanalysis and human development with implications for classroom life. This article centers on transference as it affects teachers and teaching, as it emerges through teachers’ behavior and their dreams, and how consultation and emotional education can become vehicles for professional education and personal change.     

Academics’ conceptions of assessment and their assessment practices

The present study focuses; firstly, on analysing academics’ conceptions of the purpose of assessment; secondly, on their assessment practices; and thirdly, on the relationship between their conceptions and practices. The data consisted of interviews with 28 pharmacy teachers. The analysis resulted in a continuum of categories of conceptions, from reproductive conceptions with an emphasis on measuring the reproduction of correct information, to more transformational conceptions with an emphasis on the development of students’ thinking and understanding. Although broad variation in assessment practices was recognised, teachers mostly described the use of traditional forms of assessment. Analysis of the relationship between conceptions and practices revealed high consistency between conceptions and practices.     

Students’ approaches to learning and assessment preferences in a portfolio-based learning environment

This study focused on the relationships between experiences with portfolio assessment, students’ approaches to learning and their assessment preferences by means of a pre- and post-test design in an authentic class setting. The participants were 138 first-year professional bachelor’s degree students in office management. They were assessed by means of portfolio assessment in a course that combined constructivist design principles and lectures. Approaches to learning and assessment preferences were measured by means of the Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire and the Assessment Preferences Inventory. Results showed that students’ preferences for student participation in examination and for permanent evaluation decreased significantly. Moreover, deep approaches were not enhanced. On the contrary, surface learning increased significantly. Notwithstanding, the surface approach proved to be a significant negative predictor of the portfolio assessment score.     

‘What drives students’ affective commitment towards their university?’

How can universities build ongoing, committed relationships with students, able to withstand the financial and emotional challenges of studying in higher education? The research proposes that students’ ongoing attachment to their university, based on positive feelings towards the university, is an important aspect of the student experience. This ongoing attachment is conceptualised here as students’ affective commitment towards their institution. Using an online survey-method and a research sample comprising undergraduate students studying in the UK, this research identifies three factors which drive students’ affective commitment towards their institution. These factors include students’ affective commitment towards academics and students’ calculative commitment towards the institution; factors which draw from the relational literature. A third factor, commitment balance, was developed within this research. Commitment balance occurs when a student’s commitment to their university is perceived to be reciprocated by the university’s commitment to the student. The study found that commitment balance was the most important driver of students’ ongoing attachment to their institution. The paper proposes that commitment balance is a key idea to consider within relational studies generally, but has a particular relevance in the higher education context for understanding the student experience. Commitment balance reflects the pulse of reciprocity which energises relational exchanges between students and institution. The findings of this research reinforce how critically important it is for universities and academics to build relationships with students. The desired outcome is to enhance the student experience, create positive attachment between students and university and ultimately improve student retention.     

Students’ perceptions about peer assessment for writing: their origin and impact on revision work

We investigate students’ negative perceptions about an online peer assessment system for undergraduate writing across the disciplines. Specifically, we consider the nature of students’ resistance to peer assessment; what factors influence that resistance; and how students’ perceptions impact their revision work. We do this work by first examining findings from an end-of-course survey administered to 250 students in ten courses across six universities using an online peer assessment system called SWoRD for their writing assignments. Those findings indicate that students have the most positive perceptions of SWoRD in those courses where an instructor graded their work in addition to peers (as opposed to peer-only grading). We then move to an in-depth examination of perceptions and revision work among 84 students using SWoRD and no instructor grading for assessment of writing in one university class. Findings from that study indicate that students sometimes regard peer assessment as unfair and often believe that peers are unqualified to review and assess students’ work. Furthermore, students’ perceptions about the fairness of peer assessment drop significantly following students’ experience in doing peer assessment. Students’ fairness perceptions—and drops in those perceptions—are most significantly associated with their perceptions about the extent to which peers’ feedback is useful and positive. However, students’ perceptions appear to be unrelated to the extent of their revision work. This research fills a considerable gap in the literature regarding the origin of students’ negative perceptions about peer assessment, as well as how perceptions influence performance.     

Factors Influencing Nursing Students’ Intention to Practice Sexuality Education in their Professional Work

Abstract

Sexuality has an essential part in human lives and can be affected by changes in one’s health status. Since the nursing profession delivers holistic care for patients, nurses must have the knowledge and skills to deliver care concerning sexuality. Evidence from the professional literature demonstrates that nurses do not address sexuality care consistently, mainly due to different factors such as lack of knowledge, skills, and cultural attitudes. This study’s purpose was to learn about the factors that affect nursing students’ willingness to grasp the nurse’s role as a sexuality educator in practice prior to establishing a specified course in sexual education for BSN students. A quantitative study was conducted in a college at the center of Israel, with a convenience sample of nursing students in a BSN program (n?=?214). The research tool was a questionnaire designed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and willingness of nursing students to practice sexuality education in the future. The study’s approach was based on Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior. Results indicated that self-efficacy is the main mediator between attitudes and intentions. There is a need to reinforce nursing student’s self-efficacy on the subject to increase their intention to practice it in the future.     

Supporting school teachers: primary teachers’ conceptions of their responses to diverse sexualities

Teachers experience a range of situations in the primary school context where students talk about, share ideas and use words and actions that might be described as non-heteronormative in character. This article reports on teachers’ experiences of the ways in which they respond to actions and events they see as non-heteronormative. It identifies six different ways in which teachers conceptualise their pedagogical responses to the situations they encounter: (1) being nonchalant, (2) avoiding a response, (3) being uncertain, (4) maintaining home and school boundaries, (5) protecting students’ well-being and (6) embracing non-heteronormative sexualities. Teachers’ responses to these events are important in that their actions may affect how students interpret and understand the world. Primary school teachers will benefit from support in knowing how to respond appropriately when faced with a scenario or situation that is non-heteronormative in character.     

Students’ images of two-variable functions and their graphs

This paper presents a conceptual analysis for students’ images of graphs and their extension to graphs of two-variable functions. We use the conceptual analysis, based on quantitative and covariational reasoning, to construct a hypothetical learning trajectory (HLT) for how students might generalize their understanding of graphs of one-variable functions to graphs of two-variable functions. To evaluate the viability of this learning trajectory, we use data from two teaching experiments based on tasks intended to support development of the schemes in the HLT. We focus on the schemes that two students developed in these teaching experiments and discuss their relationship to the original HLT. We close by considering the role of covariational reasoning in generalization, consider other ways in which students might come to conceptualize graphs of two-variable functions, and discuss implications for instruction.     

Collateral Learning in Science: Students’ responses to a cross‐cultural unit of work

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of students’ responses to a cross‐cultural science unit entitled “Maintaining health.” The unit was designed to help students to build bridges between their traditional practices and beliefs and western science concepts. This paper reports students’ responses to a pre‐test and post‐test, and their reflections on their learning. The responses were analysed using the collateral learning model. There was evidence of parallel, dependent, and secured collateral learning. The implications for science teaching and for assessing science learning are discussed.